Copyright Coeur d'Alene Press
SANDPOINT — The first show Heather White attended at the Panida Theater was a piano recital by Matt Goodrich and Melody Puller. As a longtime pianist herself, there was only one thing on White's mind. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is really cool that we get to have this type of piano recital in this theater,’” White said. “I thought, ‘I wonder how I can get myself up on that stage.’” Never did the thought occur to her that one day, around five years down the road, White would be the next executive director of the Panida Theater. But as of Nov. 1, that’s exactly the role that she is stepping into. “When the opportunity came about and I was talking to my friends and colleagues at the conservatory, it just seemed like such a natural fit,” White said. “I’m really super excited to be here with the staff and can’t wait to get started.” White graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a bachelor’s degree in music, focusing on piano, but returned to school to finish her master’s degree in business. That degree helped land her a position at Boeing for three years, but White said something was always missing. So, White opened a side business, her own piano studio focused on teaching youth in the area. She said as the studio grew, she needed to make a choice between her career job and passion. "I was really missing music, talking about it, teaching it, being a student myself,” White said. “I got to this point where I had to make a decision because I couldn’t continue both full-time roles, so I ended up resigning from Boeing and did that for a long time.” After nearly 12 years of running the piano studio, White and her family moved to Sandpoint from the Seattle area in search of a small town to raise their son. In that time, she worked for numerous companies attempting to find a balance between her creative side and business side. “That’s why I’m so excited about this role because I literally get to marry both sides of myself,” White said. “I get to do both and that’s a special opportunity for me and I get to do that here in Sandpoint, which is awesome.” Having spent time in the community, White said she realizes how much the Panida means to the locals. She said her top priority in the position will be to preserve the theater and hopes to set it on a path that will keep the Panida’s doors open for the next century. Her plan to do that involves listening and connecting with the Sandpoint community, especially the younger generations. White said she’d like to explore collaborations with local businesses in the city to boost programming. "It would be fantastic to have programming addressed to the younger generations,” White said. “It’d be neat to explore musical theater more and could bring in some bigger productions, things that tug at the heartstrings of everybody.” Most of all, White said that she was ecstatic to be a part of the Panida’s team and continue working in the community. She said she’s still getting up to speed on the theater’s ongoing restoration and hopes to work with other similar theaters in the region as they undergo similar projects. "I want to make sure this is the entertainment venue that everybody wants to go to on a Saturday evening or Friday night,” White said. “Not only for our community, but when we have visitors coming into town, ‘Oh let’s go check out the Panida, let’s see what they’ve got going on.’” White introduced herself to the community Thursday during a Panida Theater board meeting.
